Sweet Dreams are Made of This
by Suffering Angel
Summary: Some things, one never gets over. Those are the things one has friends for.


I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

_**Sweet Dreams are Made of This**_

For most denizens of Disney Castle, that morning proved to be quite an exception to the rule.  
>They were used to a lively castle, yes; lively and energetic, as befitting a well populated castle surrounded by quite the prosperous town. They were used to the merchants, and the children, and the people going this way and that. The servants did their duties, and the soldiers stood guard. All around was the peaceful air indicating that things were as they should be.<br>That wasn't quite the case that particular morning.  
>If you were in the town, you were lucky, as you only heard the racket that came from the castle. If you were less lucky, however, and were one of the poor souls who resided between the thick, tall stone walls, then caution was recommended, for that morning found the broom servants running back and forth, and the soldiers, usually strolling rather than patrolling, reporting regularly and quite often. Though it was well hidden under the veil of obedience and self control, the castle was, quite simply - in an uproar.<p>

You see, several days prior, three unique guests arrived at the castle. They were two boys and one girl, all in the delicate ages of mid-teens, tip-toeing their way towards adulthood. Few were aware that behind the sweet, at-times innocent features each and every one had a story to tell, and that the past two or so years were hardly pleasant. Despite this, they never demanded more than what was called for, never imposed, and the two boys even went as far as volunteer to take active part in maintaining the castle's security. They never could sit still for too long, after all…  
>Why then, was the castle in such a sad state of affairs where every last member of the staff was in one state of panic or another? Well, the answer to that was quite simple.<p>

You see, early that morning, one of the two boys, the brown haired Keyblade Wielder who saved the World several times already despite his young age – simply vanished.  
>His two friends found that out the hard way when he failed to meet with them for a trip through the town, and on their way to look for him, ran into one concerned Captain of the Guards and one frenzied Court Mage.<br>At first, the two teens' appearance was a sign of hope for the two members of the court, but upon seeing their clueless expressions and shows of concern at the news, the situation seemed to be worse than before.

"You can't find him anywhere?" Kairi asked, concern evident in her voice.

"We looked everywhere we could think of." Goofy replied somewhat shamefully. "He's nowhere t'be found!"

"We saw him at breakfast, did anyone see him since?" The girl continued while her friend shifted about slightly.  
>He couldn't quite say the boy in question was at his best during breakfast...<p>

"Daisy met him." Donald answered. "He told her he was having trouble sleeping-"  
>At that, Riku's eyes widened briefly before narrowing down in a knowing manner. Kairi glanced at him once before turning away, her hand holding onto her opposite arm.<br>"-And she was going to get something to help him rest, but he was nowhere to be found after that." The mage finished and fell silent.

"We were worried something might'a happened to him..." Goofy added, seeming genuinely worried. It made sense why, too - even with the boy's own well-being being risked by his tired state, it wasn't too hard to think of people who would try to exploit the situation.

"Call the search off." Riku demanded before turning away and started down the corridor. "I know where he is."

Rather dumbfounded, the two turned to Kairi, who simply let out a tiny, frustrated sigh. Upon noticing the attention she smiled tiredly and shook her head.  
>"This happened before..."<p>

–

It didn't come as a surprise when Riku reached his room and found the door locked.  
>Having brought neither valuables nor important personal belongings with him, he saw even less of a reason to keep his room locked in a place filled with people he trusted. He entered and left the room freely, and that morning was no exception to that pattern.<br>It stood to reason then that someone else locked the door, and he knew exactly who the culprit was. He came there looking for him, after all.  
>It might've been invisible to other people, but having the same mythical Keyblade in his possession as the person who was no doubt behind the slab of wood, Riku was well aware of the eerily sparkling keyhole shape floating above the door's own lock.<br>A sigh left his lips as he fished out the real key from his pocket and opened the door the good old-fashioned way. He had to appreciate the way in which the heavy mechanism screeched and turned loudly, informing the person inside of his arrival.

So much the better; had he been after the element of surprise, he'd have used the window.

The door opened smoothly, almost in contrast to its size and weight. Riku stepped inside and closed it, locking it again to ensure their privacy. The key found its way to his pocket yet again, and he took a moment to ascertain the situation.  
>It didn't seem like too much changed in his room. Everything was where he left it, sans the bed which arguably could've been excused to it not being made yet, what with the panic his friend's disappearing act caused.<br>Riku knew better, however, especially with those bright yellow shoes lying on the floor, those bright yellow straps running over the back of a certain teen's pants, and aforementioned teen lying flat on his stomach, his mess of brown spikes resting on Riku's pillow.

Even with the door making as much noise as it did, Sora remained unmoving. He was sprawled on the bed, one arm at his side with the other hand resting on the pillow, fingers lightly digging into the soft item.

At least he managed to take his shoes off, Riku concluded and made his way to the bed, wondering idly if Sora was asleep. He was answered soon enough, however, as by the time he settled down on the bed with his back against the wall, Sora was looking at him with his cheek still pressed against the pillow.

"Oh there you are", Riku declared softly and reached to push several brown spikes from Sora's face. As expected, the usually energetic, smiling features seemed tired, and the usually bright blue eyes were dim and distant. Trouble sleeping, huh...  
>"Really, if you couldn't sleep you should've come over sooner." The older teen berated softly, all the while running his fingers through Sora's hair in a soothing manner. His words didn't seem to draw out quite the wanted reaction, however, as Sora pushed himself up to sit on the bed, his legs folded underneath him. Riku withdrew his hand and studied the other teen for a good while.<p>

"I can't just barge in here whenever I please." Sora argued, his gaze fixed on the pillow. A frown rose to his face as he noticed the slight moistness he left behind, and that no doubt was at least partially evident on his face still.  
>He wondered when Riku would comment on that.<p>

"Then how about whenever you need to?" Riku tried, seeing no need to call Sora out on such obvious things. He was more concerned with the cause rather than the symptoms, anyway.  
>Thankfully, he had an idea about that one.<br>"You had _that dream_ again, didn't you?" He asked softly, tone more concerned than accusing. He knew it mattered little by the way Sora's shoulders hunched and a touch of stress added to the exhausted expression. Riku needed little more to know he was right, and he closed his eyes for a moment's contemplation.

Sora told him about that dream, once, when he paid him a visit in the dead of night several weeks prior. He seemed besides himself, disoriented and terrified of his own shadow. Only when Riku finally let him into his room and they sat in silence for a while did Sora seem to regain his bearings, and finally Sora told him what bothered him so.  
>They were both there, standing opposite to each other in that barren, vacant space. Under his shoes was the odd pale sand, unmoving due to the absence of wind. Before him was nothing of that sort, however, as all he could see beyond the large doorframe was nothing.<br>No, that wasn't quite right, he corrected himself. Darkness was quite visible to them after all this time, and Sora knew well what the dark, smoke-like fog that filled the world behind the door was. It wiggled and twisted and wrapped itself around Riku's form, standing motionless before him, right behind that door. The voice caught in his throat, refusing to let him call out as the large doors slowly slid shut, blocking the only way through which he could reach his friend. All along Riku's eyes kept staring at him, the teal spheres completely unreadable.  
>And then, with his own hands, Sora locked the door and sealed Riku's fate.<p>

The truly worst part about that dream, Riku knew, was that it was recurring. And every time it happened, he heard about it a bit later, with a slightly more forced smile, with Sora looking a bit more tired.  
>Aaah, traumas; they never did go away simply because you talked them over, did they?<br>But if they were dealing with the same thing all over again, it made things easier - the solution, even if only for the immediate situation, was obvious.

A shocked gasp left Sora when Riku grabbed him by the arm and pulled him over against himself. Knowing better than to think Sora was one to stay there, he wrapped his arm around the teen's shoulders, keeping him well in place, with his back pressing against Riku's chest.

"Oy, Riku, wha-" Sora tried to protest, his hands resting over Riku's forearm, but he stopped once he felt Riku leaned his head against his own. Quite surprised, he blinked and tried his best to tilt his head backwards in their current pose.

"Stop struggling and go to sleep already. You're tired, anyone can tell that much just by looking at you. We can go out to town once you've rested." Riku half muttered into the brown mane.

Sora stayed still for a long moment before shifting once in slight discomfort. He glanced down at the strong arm that held him in place and held onto it a bit more tightly.  
>The question at first refused to leave his throat, but this wasn't the dream; there was nothing holding his voice back sans that last fleeting bit of willpower.<p>

"Will you be there when I wake up?"

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" Riku asked easily enough in light of the shaken, uncertain question, but before Sora could cower before his seemingly uncaring bravado -

"I can protect you from at least this stupid dream. So let me do at least that much for you."

The shiver was easy to notice and Sora didn't even try to hold it back. Though it took him a while he finally relaxed, going noticeably limp in Riku's arms. That thankfully made the older teen look up and so Sora could shift, leaning against Riku with his side. That way he could rest his head against the other's chest, see. There was a certain sound there he was quite fond of, and found he relaxed more easily with it beating against his ear.

"See you later, then." Sora whispered and settled down, eyes sliding shut as he let himself relax.

Riku settled more comfortably against the wall and leaned his head back. This was bound to leave him with a couple of cramps and a sore neck, but as Sora went completely still and limp against him, he knew it was the lesser of evils.  
>It certainly beat seeing Sora that tired or concerned, and always it stood before his eyes, the image from that night where Sora was shivering and crying, so desperate and lost. If that was the price to pay, so be it, he decided and glanced one last time at his best friend.<p>

"Good night, sweet prince." 


End file.
